Being in Love
by xCaligula
Summary: Companion fic to Make Em Laugh. Laurie is bored; she's been unsuccessfully trying to get into veterinarian school for a while, and her boyfriend couldn't seem less interested in her. Dan was a TA when Laurie was a student, and when the two run into each other, they're eager to catch up.
1. Used to be my favorite dream

Dan Dreiberg was on his way home from running errands when he saw her. He recognized the young woman, knowing her from school, where he had been a TA in one of her classes. Her name was Laurie, if he recalled correctly, and she had been a biology student.

He was a graduate student with a focus in ornithology, just working on finishing up his degree, and had done a lot of assistant teaching during his time in school. There had been a lot of students, but she had stood out to him back then for a lot of reasons, her magnetic personality and beauty among the foremost of them. He would have been lying if he said he hadn't been attracted to her, but it hadn't seemed appropriate to pursue something like that, and he hadn't known how to ask her to keep in touch once the class was over.

Seeing her on the streets now, he remembered just how much he had enjoyed talking to her back then, even when it just pertained to classwork, and he waved to her, calling out, "Laurie!"

She looked over at him, a small, generic smile on her face as she tried to place him. But then her smile turned more genuine and she waved back him, walking over to him. "Hey, it's you! It's been a while," she said.

"Sure has," he replied. "So, uh, how are things for you? Have you graduated yet?" She nodded and he said, "What were you studying again?"

"Majored in biology," she said, but he already knew that. Still, it felt more polite to ask. "And a minor in gender studies, but that didn't really relate to what I wanted to do. Now I'm just waiting to get into a vet school."

"So you want to be a vet?"

"Yeah, I've always loved animals," she said with a smile. "Ever since I was a little girl, I've wanted to work with them. But," she sighed, "sometimes that's easier said than done, and now I'm stuck waiting to finish up school."

"I'm sure it'll all work itself out eventually. But, uh, anything else interesting going on in the meantime?" he asked awkwardly.

"Not much, really. I'm not working anywhere right now or anything. My boyfriend makes pretty good money and we live together, so there hasn't been any need for it," she said.

He tried not to let his disappointment show when he heard her mention her boyfriend, and told himself that approaching her had been about more than trying to get a date, it had been about reconnecting with someone he wouldn't mind being friends with. "Now, I have a hard time believing there's _nothing_ interesting going on," he said with a light chuckle.

"Well, you better believe it," she replied, also laughing. "I lost touch with a lot of my friends after graduation, so I don't really get out much unless it's on my own." Though she had laughed, he saw a sadness in her eyes, and he felt bad for her. She was clearly lonely, and in need of a friend, and he wanted to try to help her out.

"Say, you know, it'd be really nice to get to catch up," said Dan. "I mean, if you'd like to talk for a little while."

She looked hesitant for a moment, and he was sure that she was going to say no, but the she broke into a smile and said, "Why not? Not sure if I'm really interesting company, but I'll try not to bore you too much."

"I seriously doubt you could," he replied, "but I can't promise the same. Have you eaten?"

~X~

The two settled in at a small restaurant and fell into easy conversation. Laurie told him a little more about her relationship than he would have expected, from how they had begun all the way up to how things were between them at present, which wasn't very good. Perhaps that had a hand in her loneliness, and perhaps her loneliness had something to do with why she was telling Dan all of this right off the bat.

In another one of her classes, there had been a guest lecturer, a physicist named Jon, and she had been infatuated with him nearly instantly, from how she told it. She wasn't particularly interested in the subject and had just taken the class for credit requirements, but she said she hung on to every word her said. He was smart and she thought he was very handsome, and she would attempt to make conversation with him before and after every class.

Somehow, and she was not even sure how herself, she had managed to get a date with him, and they had been together ever since. Things had gotten serious enough between them for them to move in together, but she had always felt like something was off, like he was not as emotionally involved as she was and was merely going through the motions of a romance. More and more often lately, she wondered if there was anything between them at all.

She confessed all of this to Dan much too easily, and he realized he was right about her needing a friend. It was plain that she had had no one to talk to as her relationship had started to fail, and he felt selfish for ever being disappointed that she already had a boyfriend. If it was a friend that she needed, he would do what he could to be that for her.

He didn't have very many friends himself, but that was mostly by choice. Studying kept him busy, and he didn't mind having alone time. His closest friend was a man named Walter, an odd, quiet man who worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. Dan had recognized him working so many places that he had stopped to talk to him, and the two had hit it off, despite the other man being so reserved.

There was an amateur comedian that Dan liked to go see at a club, and he had brought Walter along many times. Walter liked the man's sense of humor anymore and sometimes seemed to enjoy going more than Dan did. It soon became a weekly tradition for them, but Walter had to do something at work that week, and would not be able to go.

"Say, Laurie, what are you doing Thursday night?" asked Dan. She looked up at him, surprised, and he realized how that might have sounded. "I mean...a friend of mine usually goes with me to this thing, and he can't make it this week, so I was wondering if you'd like to get out for a little bit."

"I...guess that could be fun," she said, considering it. She seemed to realize that he did not have ulterior motives- or even realized that he did, and was just doing a very good job of burying them. "What time?"

So he gave her the address and they agreed to meet up that Thursday, and he found himself very excited for the evening. He knew that it wasn't a date, and that she was not looking for anything more than friendship from him, but that was okay. She was a smart and funny woman, and she was sad and lonely, and he wanted to make her feel better if he could. Being friends with Laurie would be more than enough.


	2. Why couldn't there be?

Laurie had felt just a little bit wrong, agreeing to go out with Dan that Thursday, even though he had specified that it was just as friends and that she knew he was a trustworthy guy. It had less to do with Dan and more to do with herself; she had made it no secret to him that she was lonely and that things weren't what they could be with Jon, and she didn't want it to seem like she was throwing herself at the first guy to pay attention to her in a while.

She had hoped that if she asked Jon about going it would help ease her mind on the matter, but when she talked with him about it, he didn't seem to have an opinion one way or the other. There had been a part of her that had hoped he would be jealous about things or even ask her not to go, but if he was, he did not show it.

"Are you sure it's fine for me to go out with Dan tomorrow?" she asked, hoping that the way she phrased it might cause him to think differently. It wasn't the first time she had asked, but his answer hadn't changed so far.

"Of course. I have a lot to get caught up on this week, so it won't affect me if you go out with your friend," was all she got from him. Which was typical, he always needed to get 'caught up' on work, even though he worked so often she had had no idea how he could get behind in the first place. What had she even been thinking, getting involved with him the first place?

It had been a challenge, she supposed, and he had been incredibly good-looking. She still thought he was, but that didn't really do much good when he usually possessed the personality of a brick. But back then, he had just been the handsome guest lecturer, who Laurie had thought would be interesting to hook up with. She hadn't been entirely serious in pursuing him at first, but when she talked to him, she really thought he seemed interested in her.

Maybe he had been, back then. She had always been beautiful- maybe not as much of a knockout as her mother used to be, but she had always been beautiful, and she was young, and she made it no secret that she was available. He had been interested in her back then, and she had run with it, because it had been a challenge and it was something no one else she knew could say they did.

But time had passed, and he had grown more distant from her every day, yet never made a move to leave her. She would think that the relationship had to be close to over, and then he would do something like offer to have her move in with him, and she had no idea where they stood. For all she knew, he could be planning to propose to her while she thought they were at their lowest point.

She didn't know what she would say if he really did, and she didn't know why that scared her as much as it did.

~X~

On Thursday night, she gave Jon one last chance to tell her not to go, and he didn't take it, so she went to the address Dan had given her to meet up with him. When she got out of the cab, he was already standing there, waiting for her. He had seemed like the sort he would be early for these sorts of things, and she suppressed a laugh now that she saw that she had not been wrong.

He waved to her when he saw her approaching, and said, "Hey, glad you could make it!"

She smiled at him and replied, "Well, I couldn't miss an evening out at..." She looked up at the club, taking in the sign that bore its name. "'Shots and Giggles?'" Laurie made a face.

"I think they were trying to be funny," said Dan with a grin.

"Well, they did a pretty shitty job at that," she said. "Let's hope the guy performing is funnier than that."

"Trust me, he is. I didn't usually come out on week nights, but I caught him one Thursday back when that he was still amateur night, and I've been coming back every week I could manage since." Dan seemed enthusiastic as he held open the door for her. "Eventually, he was the only one they had perform, and I started talking to him after he was done. We're sort of friends, I think."

"Well, let's get in there, then," she replied, entering the building with Dan following behind her. She surveyed the room, catching sight of someone that nearly made her stop in her tracks. He was an older man, probably in his late forties, and he looked incredibly familiar.

But there was just no way it was him, that coincidence would be too much. She had to be mistaken- after all, she had only seen one photo of him and he had been so much younger then. It was possible that this man was what he would look like aged, but there was just no way she had run into that man, of all people. There was just no way in hell it was him.

But then Dan was waving at him and saying, "Laurie, that's him over there. Let's go say hi before it's time for him to start." He called over to the man, "Hey, Eddie!" and she knew that name from the story she had been told, and she knew a younger version of that face from the old picture, and she knew that Dan's friend and the her mother's old 'friend' were one and the same.

"Laurie, this is Eddie Blake, the guy I was telling you about," said Dan, so cheerfully clueless. "Eddie, this is my friend, Laurie Juspeczyk."

Eddie looked surprised, and she was sure that he recognized the last name. It wasn't a common one, after all, and after what he had done, she would have been surprised if he had been able to forget her mother.

"Oh, my mom's friends told me all about him," she said rudely, and his expression was suddenly unreadable. "I'd hoped the name was an unfortunate coincidence and that Dan had better taste in friends, but I guess not." Dan made an uncomfortable noise, but Eddie just stared at her for a moment, unresponsive.

"What?" he asked, then suddenly, infuriatingly, smiled. "Ya don't mean to tell me you're Sally's little girl, do ya?"

Anger bubbled up in Laurie and she had to resist the urge to punch this man, to knock that goddamned smile off his face. "Is that really all you have to say for yourself, after what you did to her?" she screamed, clenching her fists as she fought to hold herself back.

Dan gave an awkward laugh, looking pained. "Well, I think we should get to our table now. See you after the show, Eddie, good luck."

Fuming, Laurie followed Dan to the table he had picked out. She couldn't understand _how_ he could have come to be friends with a guy like that, or how she had happened to run into him of all people. Really, she just wondered how she had managed to keep from clocking him, or at least from letting him have it worse than she had. And when she thought of how casual he had been about it, she almost turned around and charged after him. The only thing that kept her from doing that was knowing that Dan wanted to keep the peace, and she didn't want to damage her friendship with him just yet.

"Why are you friends with him?" she asked, when they were finally at the table.

"I don't...I didn't..." He looked very confused. "I don't know what's going on with the two of you, I didn't even know you two knew each other. What...exactly did he do? I mean, that's got you so mad at him?"

"He didn't do anything to me, but he did plenty to my mother," she replied. "They knew each other in college, they hung out with the same people. One day, some of her old friends were over, and I overheard them talking while they were looking at pictures. One of them got uncomfortable about a picture, and my mom told them not to worry about it, that it didn't bother her anymore. I kept listening and it became pretty obvious what had happened between my mom and one of the men in the pictures.

"When I was a little older, and they were visiting again, I finally asked about it. Eddie Blake tried to rape my mother one night, and he would have been able to if someone at the bar hadn't caught him in the act. She says it doesn't bother her anymore, but still...I just can't believe someone would do something like that to her." She shook her head, sighing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to dump all of that on you."

"No, uh...no, I understand why you did," said Dan. "And what happened to her, that's horrible. He never really seemed like that type to me, I mean, I've known him for a while and he seemed pretty harmless. I guess, since it was so long ago...I don't know, I don't really know what to say here. If you want to leave, we can, and if you don't want me to talk to him anymore..."

She was very tempted to say yes. It would be a very small punishment for what he had done, nearly harmless. But she was barely friends with Dan and he was her first friend in a long while. She didn't want to tell him what to do when she was so new to his life, and she didn't want to do something that would make him resent her. He was right that it had been a long time ago, and she owed it to Dan to at least try to put up with this, even if she didn't like it.

"No, it's fine," she said at last. "I want to stay. After all, you like him cos you think he's funny, right? That's...that's got nothing to do with it, I guess. And these were your plans, so I don't mind sticking around."

"If you're sure," he said, an appreciative smile on his face.

~X~

The worst part was, Eddie really was fairly funny, but she refused to laugh at any of his jokes. Just because she was there didn't mean she had to like it, and just because she was tolerating him for Dan's sake didn't mean she had to like _him_. But she had so much fun with Dan, and it was so nice to get out, that when she was asked if she'd like to come with him and Walter the next week, she said yes, and from that point on, she was a regular.


	3. Only half of what I'm longing for now

Dan and Laurie only got closer from there, though he hadn't been sure at first. He had been afraid that her dislike for Eddie would mean that she would not want to spend time with him anymore either, but she had been so willing to set that aside for his sake that first night. The next week, Walter was able to go with him again, but, surprisingly, Laurie called him to ask if she could come along as well.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean, I know you don't like Eddie, so..."

"Maybe not, but I like spending time with you," she replied. He offered to hang out with her other places, on different nights, doing different things, and she took him up on every single one of those offers, yet still wanted to go with him to the comedy club. He was confused, but not willing to let the opportunity pass him by.

So he agreed to have her come along and hoped that she and Walter got along well enough, but he couldn't help but question why she would want to go back. She had been so upset before, he had figured she would never want to go back, and he wondered if she was honestly so lonely that she would put up with being around somewhere she hated just for the sake of their friendship.

Whatever her reasoning, she went with him often- though not every week he went- and always seemed eager to make plans with him. They had been awkward around each other at first, but soon found that they always had something to talk about. Every now and then, she would slip up and talk about her relationship, and then apologize for bringing up the unfortunate situation, but Dan was always willing to listen to her, even though all he really wanted to do was tell her to leave her boyfriend for someone who really cared about her.

But he had promised himself that he would not let himself slip up in that regard; he was her friend first and foremost, and his attraction to her was not as important to him as that. He listened to her and offered support whenever she accidentally mentioned it, and when she was drunk enough to go on and on about it, he tried his best then too. She put up with him being friends with someone she could not stand; what kind of friend would he be if he didn't listen to her complain about her relationship without letting his personal feelings get in the way?

~X~

Nearly two months into their friendship, and she still went with him every chance she had, and hung out with him otherwise as well. He wasn't exactly clear on how Walter felt about her; other friend was quiet about a lot of things and managed to keep his opinion hidden, but he couldn't have disliked her too much, because he kept coming along. Or maybe he just enjoyed going to the club so much that he didn't let that bother him.

Her home life only continued to deteriorate, and even though she tried to keep her brave face, she continued to let more and more slip to Dan. She wasn't happy, and he didn't know how to fix it other than spending whatever free time he had with her, which she at least seemed to appreciate. It didn't help much, but it _was_ helping, and that made him feel a little bit useful.

One night, things were worse than usual. From the moment he saw her outside of the club, he could see that she was miserable, and she was not making her usual effort to conceal it. Her smile when she saw him was painfully fake and there were still tears in her eyes that she hadn't yet managed to blink back.

"Laurie, are you alright?" he asked, rather than greeting her. Normally, he would let her talk when she was ready, but he was worried about her.

"I'm fine," she replied, but her voice broke and she shook her head. "No, I'm not. I'm sorry, I don't want to ruin the night, but..."

"Did you guys have a fight?"

"I wish," she said. "I know that sounds bad, but...I wish we had, because at least then he'd be saying something. At least then I would know he was putting in an effort too, but whenever I talk to him, he just...doesn't care."

He tried to think of something, anything to say that would make her feel better, but his patience with her boyfriend was growing thin and he couldn't think of anything to say that wasn't encouraging her to dump him. Before he could come up with something else, they saw Walter approaching, and Laurie wanted to drop the topic.

She was distant from that point on, not even bothering to greet Eddie with her usual ice and sarcasm, and set to drinking as soon as they were seated. The only glimpse she gave of her usual personality what when Eddie got up to get ready for his routine. Dan told him to break a leg, to which Laurie responded, "If only."

She was drinking at a rate that concerned him a bit, but he didn't think that it was his place to tell her to slow down. However, he knew she had to be pretty trashed to laugh at any of Eddie's jokes, and towards the end, he caught her doing just that. He was worried about her, but there wasn't much he could do other than keep an eye on her and try to look for an excuse to ask her if she was ready to go home.

Even when Eddie came to sit and talk with him, she did not follow her typical routine of glaring at him and making snide remarks about things he said and instead came up with a new routine for the night: throwing her arm around Dan and laying her head on his shoulder, mumbling nearly incoherently about anything and everything. He sat stiff, not sure how to react to her doing this, enjoying her closeness but knowing that it meant nothing and that she was not in her right mind.

Eddie excused himself and walked away, and Dan began to plan how to ask Laurie to leave. He didn't even know where she lived, but he had to get her home somehow, and hoped he'd be able to get a straight answer out of her when he managed to get her out of here, but before he could even ask, she excused herself as well, barely managing to stand up and stumble off toward the bathrooms.

"She's a mess tonight," observed Walter rather frankly.

"She and her boyfriend have been having problems," replied Dan. He could appreciate that Walter, despite not having a high opinion of Laurie's actions, kept it to himself until she was out of earshot.

"As always."

"I think it's different this time," he said. "I think she's really being pushed farther than she can handle. Try to bear with her while things are tough. For me, alright?"

Walter shrugged. "Wasn't planning on saying anything and you know I'm going to keep coming here anyway."

"What's up with that?" asked Dan. "You always seem pretty enthusiastic about coming here and sometimes I think you enjoy it more than me. Ever thought about coming on other nights? I probably can't come with you a lot for those nights, but I would try to if I could. We haven't ever seen any of the other comedians here."

His friend only shook his head, and did not meet Dan's eye as he said, "Not really interested in...any of the other ones."

He wanted to ask what Walter meant by that, but before he could, he noticed his friend looking at something, and followed his gaze. Eddie was coming back to the table, practically dragging Laurie behind him. Dan felt himself grow defensive, wondering what had gone down between them. Despite Laurie's story about the man, he had never been able to picture him doing something like that, but with her so drunk and helpless, it made him wonder.

He didn't have to wonder, or worry much, though. As soon as he rose to say something, Laurie began to stumble toward him and Eddie let go of her. Just before she reached him, she started to fall, and he caught her to steady her, but she had no intention of letting go.

"She's in bad shape," said Eddie. "I think ya need to get her on home." His intentions were pure, and that was a relief, and he was right. That had been the plan all along, and with Laurie clinging to him like this, now it did not seem like it would be as hard of a goal to achieve.

"I...yeah, I agree," he replied. He turned to his friend and asked, "Walter, will you be alright here?"

"Yeah. Get her home."

Not needing any further encouragement, Dan said his goodbyes and helped Laurie to the door. She seemed to have an entirely different idea about where this night was going, judging by some of the remarks she made, and he tried to keep his mind from wandering to dangerous places. No matter how many times he asked her where she lived, she refused to talk, only giggling, and eventually, he realized that if he did not take her to his own home, he wouldn't know what to do with her.

So he brought her home, where she again attempted to come on to him, and he continued to manage to resist her advances. Just before she passed out, she began to tear up, and started to apologize, mumbled, "I didn't mean to be so lonely..."

Dan laid her on the couch, waiting to make sure that she was out for good. Of course, that was what it was all about and he knew it. Her advances were brought on by the volatile combination of alcohol and the horrible loneliness she had been subjected to for so long. It was good that he had managed to stay strong; she hadn't really meant any of what had been said, and both would have regretted it in the morning.

He only hoped that instead, she would feel better in the morning, at the very least.


	4. More interested in me than he is in hims

Laurie woke up with one of the worst hangovers she could remember having, and she woke up on a couch that she didn't know, under blankets that weren't hers, in a room that she had never seen before. None of these things were good signs, and she slowly tried to get up, wincing as she did so. What had she done the night before? She remembered being upset with Jon and she remembered trying to confront him about things, only to be told that he was too busy, and she remembered going to the comedy club with Dan like always, but the night began to blur there.

As she struggled to remember it, little details came back here or there, and the picture they painted was not a pretty one. She could remember talking to Eddie, alone, and she could remember some of the things she said and the way that she acted and, dear God, had she actually _come onto him_? Once again, her memory blurred, but that was sure as hell what it seemed like she had done.

Which did not bode well for her present situation. Waking up in a strange place after hitting on one of her least favorite people...could she have actually been lonely enough that she had done the unthinkable and slept with him? Though she dreaded for what she might find in this house, she knew that she would have to investigate eventually and figure out exactly who she had gone home with the night before.

But just as she was about to stand, she heard a voice from the doorway. "Laurie? I didn't know you were already up."

Relief washed over her as she realized it was only Dan, and for a moment, she forgot her nasty headache. At the very, very least, the signs suggested that she had not slept with Eddie. The problem of waking up in a new place was not completely solved, but at least if it were Dan, she could comfort herself in knowing that it had been one of the greatest guys she knew. Not that she deserved someone like him if she were so willing to throw herself at anyone that moved just because she was lonely.

"Give to me straight," she said, wincing when even the sound of her own voice caused her head to pound. "What did we...I mean, _did_ we?"

"Did we...?" His eyes widened. "No, no, we didn't, I mean...no. You just...I couldn't find out where you lived and I didn't know what else to do with you, so I let you stay here for the night."

Breathing a sigh of relief, she smiled. "Thank you for that. I know I must have been difficult to handle, I know how I get. God, I must have been all over you."

"Well, I wouldn't say _that_ ," he replied with a nervous look that she took to mean, yes, he would say that, except he didn't want to embarrass her anymore than she already was. "And it was no trouble, really. I couldn't just leave you like that."

"I'm really sorry, Dan. I know I must have acted really stupid, and I didn't want to ruin your night like that. You shouldn't have to look after me like that."

"Hey," he said gently, "you really don't need to worry about it. You didn't ruin anyone's time, and it's perfectly understandable. You were having a rough night, happens to everyone. Besides, looking after each other is what friends do."

"Oh, Dan..." She sighed, frowning. "You're too nice to me, you know that? You've done so much for me, and all I do is cause trouble and complain all the time. I haven't done anything good for you and I feel so bad about that."

He frowned. "Laurie, don't be ridiculous! You've been a great friend to have and I've enjoyed all the time we've spent together. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, you know? It's not your fault that things aren't the best for you right now and you're allowed to be sad about it."

"But it is my fault," she replied, shaking her head. "I could leave him at any time, and I haven't. I could be with someone who really cares about me instead of moping around all the time, but I don't. I've been with him for so long and I don't know anything else so I'm scared, and I'm scared that this is all I deserve. But I chose this for myself, and it is my fault." And there it was, the root of the problem laid out for him.

Listening to her confession, his frown only grew and he shook his head. "That's not true, not at all. You deserve a lot better than what you get, and it's not your fault that you're scared. Just because you chose this doesn't mean you're stuck with it, you were young! You probably didn't even realize you were making a choice, and you shouldn't have to suffer forever because of that. You're allowed to choose things for yourself again."

"I don't deserve what I would choose," she said, not letting go of that idea. She couldn't, not at this point. It had been too long since she had let herself believe that she was going to end up happy, that things were going to be better for her than they were for her mother, that she wouldn't get stuck in a loveless marriage. She had accepted the fact that that was what she was meant to have and that that was what she deserved. Someone nice, someone like Dan, was completely out of her reach.

"You can't keep saying that," he argued. "You just can't! You deserve more than anyone could ever give you, and I don't think there's any man in the world who wouldn't consider himself lucky to be with you unless he was crazy or stupid!" He flinched, as if he had only just realized what he had said, and looked sheepish, and that was when it dawned on Laurie why he was getting so passionate about this.

Dan had feelings for her. And what was more, she had feelings for him, and she knew that, she knew that they had been there for a long time, but she hadn't wanted to acknowledge them. She had someone else and she couldn't have feelings for Dan and she was afraid that she was just trying to find the first person who was nice to her and she would have never thought she was good enough for him, but now she realized just how obvious it was that he had feelings for her as well.

"Dan, I..."

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "That was uncalled for, I know. You just...mean a lot to me, and sometimes I have feelings for you that are a little bit stronger than friendship. I didn't meant to let that affect my opinion of the situation."

"No, Dan, I'm sorry," Laurie said, shaking her head. "All this time, I was afraid to leave Jon because I thought there was no one else who would have me, and I knew that you were...the sort of person I wanted, but I never thought you would want me back. I'm sorry I was too stupid to figure out your feelings sooner."

"That isn't...of course I didn't expect you to figure them out, I should have told you, but I didn't think..." He trailed off when she began to laugh. "What is it?"

"Just that both of us were too busy thinking about what we thought the other didn't want that we didn't realize we wanted the same thing," she said. "I don't know, maybe it's not that funny, but..." Still, she continued to laugh.

"No, I think it is. But, I have to ask, what does this mean? For us, I mean?"

"I guess...I guess this means I'm leaving Jon. For real this time. I'm going to have to find work, a place to live, and stuff like that, but...I should have done that a long time ago. All of it, I never should have stayed with him this long."

"I'll help you with anything you need, you know," said Dan. "I'll help you with moving out, and finding a place. Anything you need."

"Thank you," she said. "You're so sweet, I just..." Laurie closed the distance between them, pressing her lips against his in a gentle kiss.

She had felt trapped in her life for so long, and had never thought she would meet someone like him, someone who would care about her like she did. Even just being friends with him, she had always thought she was too lucky, and hadn't though having a relationship with someone like him would be possible. Now, for the first time in a long time, things were really looking up.


	5. A straightforward and honest man

When she first moved out, Laurie stayed with Dan, and he was afraid that things might be weird, considering they had only just gotten together, but it wasn't. Living together was an easy transition, just as easy of a transition as dating had been. It was their friendship, but better; it was everything they had already had, but then it was more than that.

Jon didn't seem to care one way or the other when she left him- he didn't seem upset with her and did not try to stop her from leaving, but he also didn't act relieved to see her go. Dan wasn't sure if he was happy that there was no dramatic fight resulting from this or angry that Jon did not miss Laurie more. Either way, he supposed he had to be happy, considering they were together now. Already she seemed so much happier than she had been before, and knowing that he had a hand in that happiness was such an amazing feeling.

They slept together every night, and every morning he would look through the papers with her to help her find a good job. He knew that once she was settled in with work, she would likely want to move out and he wasn't sure how he felt about that, but still he helped her. He called Walter to tell him the news, and he thought that his friend sounded at least a little bit happy for him, though it was hard to tell.

"Are you still coming on Thursday?" he asked.

"Of course we are," replied Dan. "Wouldn't miss it."

"And Laurie won't mind? Wouldn't want to make things uncomfortable."

"You've been going to the club longer than she has," Dan said, confused. "I know how much you love going, I wouldn't ask you not to come for any reason. Besides, I'm sure Laurie doesn't care."

"I would have gone either way, just would have suggested you two go somewhere else if it bothered her," replied Walter. Dan laughed, sure that that was meant to be a joke.

~X~

When the three of them did meet up that week, it felt odd arriving with Laurie rather than waiting for her or seeing her waiting for him. Instead, they both waited for Walter together, walking into the building side by side when he got there. Dan put his arm around Laurie as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Even seeing Eddie didn't really seem to sour her good mood, and Dan couldn't believe that he was the one making her so impossibly happy.

Sure, she shot him a few glares across the table like she always did, but she did not seem as tense, almost as if she didn't really mean it tonight and was just doing it out of obligation. Even by the time they left that night, a little bit earlier than usual because they wanted some alone time, there had been no incident, no sign of her being unhappy with anything.

That was how things went for them in everything that they did. Laurie was happier than he had ever seen her, and it didn't feel like anything could get her down. Dan was doing something right, and though he tried to figure out what it was, the only answer he could come up with seemed too simple. Just being himself and being with her seemed to be enough for her, as lame as that sounded, and he hoped that that never changed and that he was always what she needed.

When it had been a month since that night when she had come home with him, a night that, by most any definition, had been horrible, they celebrated. It should have been horrible, yes, and maybe it had been for her, at the time, but she said that she was glad it had happened because it had been the biggest factor in bringing her and Dan together at last.

Remembering what Walter had said about preferring them go somewhere else if they wanted to be alone, he decided to take Laurie out to dinner somewhere nice rather than go to the club like they normally did. He was sure that his friend would be fine on his own, especially since he had made mention of the fact that he would want to go no matter what.

Having the night to themselves wasn't much of a chance, considering that was how every night they didn't hang out with Walter was spent, but it was still nice, because this was a happy occasion. They had been together for a month and nothing about their friendship had changed and none of the happiness in their relationship had faded with the newness. There was a comfort and familiarity to it, but it did not feel tired in the slightest.

"I love you," Laurie said all at once. "I know it's...fast, to say something like that but I'm pretty sure I do." She was trying to sound casual, but she was never very good at hiding when she was nervous about something.

"I don't think it's that fast," replied Dan. "Or if it is, I'm fast too, because I love you too. But we were friends before that, we were already so close. We had a lot of time to fall in love even before we started dating."

"I think I already loved you before," she admitted. "I couldn't be sure then, but now I am."

And just when he was sure that things couldn't get any better for them, she confessed something like that to him. Of course, he had known he was in love with Laurie for a while, but he hadn't wanted to push her when she was fresh out of another relationship. But like he had said, they had been friends and falling for each other for long enough, and really, the tail end of her relationship hadn't really been much of one.

When they got home that night, he was once again incredibly grateful that she had come to live with him. They had found her a retail job to hold her over until something better came along or until she finally got into the school she wanted, but she had yet to look for somewhere else to live and he found himself hoping that she never did. It was nice, having her around like that, and he knew that it was much too soon to think about marriage, but it was still at the back of his mind.

~X~

The next time they went to the club, something was incredibly off. Nothing appeared different at first, when he and Laurie and Walter walked in together, and when Eddie began to approach them, Dan still did not sense anything strange. But then Eddie all but ignored him and Laurie and instead threw his arm around Walter's shoulder, and the gesture seemed just a little bit too intimate to be merely friendly.

Laurie stared, mouth agape, and looked ready to say something but Dan, sensing Walter's embarrassment if she did, stammered out a pathetic greeting and asked Eddie how work had been. "We, uh, we really don't talk about your life much, you know, so I was wondering..."

The entire time he spoke, Eddie did not let go of Walter, who looked mortified but also a bit pleased, and Dan wondered how he hadn't noticed this going on right under his nose. He had been too concerned with Laurie, he supposed, and had never figured out that Walter's enthusiasm for their weekly meet ups had less to do with the comedy club and more to do with the comedian.

When Eddie went up to do his routine, his jokes were different. They sounded almost happier, and there were just a few that sounded romantic, and Dan couldn't believe that the man onstage was the same one he had been seeing for months. And apparently the same man that was dating his best friend, if their behavior was anything to go off of. He returned to their table and nobody said anything because nobody knew what to say.

Finally, Eddie broke the silence with, "So, how was this week?"

Dan struggled to think of a reply that would not let on just how curious he really was about this. "It was, uh, it was great like always. You, uh...had some really different material, though. Is there a, um, reason for that?" He wanted to know, he wanted one of them to say something, but he did not want to outright ask or demand information from them.

"What the hell's going on?" asked Laurie, who clearly wanted to take the more direct approach.

"Oh, guess I'm just in a good mood this week," he said, as if that explained anything. "Probably won't be changin' up my material like that anymore, but I had a good reason this time."

There wasn't a real answer in there, but it was the closest they were going to get, and it seemed pretty obvious that there was _something_ there. He and Laurie discussed it at length when they got home, and she admitted that she had not seen it coming either.

"I mean, it's just as much of a surprise as Walter dating anyone," she said. "It's not that it's Eddie, really. He's so quiet, I never would have been able to tell you what his type was or if he even had one."

"He never talked about that sort of thing with me," Dan replied, "so I'm just as surprised. But Eddie...that one's the real surprise."

"Yeah, never would have thought he was...you know." She shrugged. "I mean, from what I'd heard about him, besides, you know, the obvious stuff."

"How do you feel about that?" he asked. "Seeing him in a relationship like that, I mean?"

"I don't care either way. I don't like him and I'm never going to like him. You don't just do stuff like he did to my mom and get forgiven for it. Guys like that are awful. But we've spent a lot of time with him and I don't see that in him. Maybe he really has changed and maybe he's not that sort of person anymore. Maybe it was just a mistake, and maybe he doesn't deserve to never be with anyone." She paused. "I really am never going to like him, but that doesn't mean I care if he's dating or whatever. Let him have his fun, as long as he isn't hurting anybody this time and as long as he isn't having his fun with my mother."

It was surprising to hear her say something like that, and he wondered if he had something to do with it. Was this another side effect to how much happier she had been lately, that she was trying to see things from a different perspective? Whether her new thoughts were right or wrong, Dan was glad that she didn't care and that he could be happy for his friend without worrying about how she felt about it.

And of course, he suspected that Eddie and Walter's relationship had grown at least partially because of his and Laurie's. They had been left alone a few times, and it was during those times that they likely began to grow closer. They were an unlikely couple but they seemed happy enough and Dan was glad for that.

Not only had he managed to get the girl of his dreams, but through that his best friend had found somebody too. The group had been odd from the start, but they had found what they needed in each other.


End file.
